


Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

by GypsySisters, Nourgelitnius (Ladysarah)



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Both of them are so soft in this, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mentor/Protégé, Older Man/Younger Woman, Pike is Gone for Tilly and she doesn't know it yet, Soft!Pike, Tired!Tilly, this is intended to take place after 2x05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 08:03:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17762930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GypsySisters/pseuds/GypsySisters, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladysarah/pseuds/Nourgelitnius
Summary: Pike wants to make sure that Tilly is alright now that they've managed to get her back from the mycelial network.





	Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

**Author's Note:**

> After a tiring day, all I wanted was some good Pike/Tilly fic, so I messaged @gypsysisters and attacked her with an outline of this story. Then she attacked me right back by pulling me into taking turns writing it with her. She's really the reason this thing exists enough to share with others. We both worked on cleaning it up and making sure it made enough sense to post, but I did the last read through, so any mistakes are mine. This was fueled by how tired I was as we wrote and the pictures of Anson and Mary on Anson's Instagram that broke both of us. 
> 
> Also, while I have shipped many an older man/younger woman relationship, and this fic still falls under that label, I like the idea of the characters being as old as their actors (33 and 45) as opposed to their canon ages (24 and 53) because Tilly doesn't look that young and I like the idea of her being older than canon has her. And just because Anson Mount is the definition of a silver fox doesn't mean Pike has to be older.

“What do you mean she isn’t here?” Pike spared a glance around the med bay on the chance he’d heard wrong.

The nurse looked up from her PADD with a furrowed brow, “We ran a full medical scan on Ensign Tilly to ascertain the effects of being immersed in the mycelial network, and aside from tending to the emergency trepanation that was administered by Commander Stamets, there was nothing warranting her stay.  She was cleared and sent home with a dose of Benzodiazepines to rest. The best place for her to be after the events that she’s been through is her quarters. Unless,” the nurse lowered her PADD, crossing her hands in front of her as she looked at him head-on, “you feel that Dr. Pollard was wrong in her assessment, Captain Pike.”

Pike realized how his emotion might have been misinterpreted as indignation or disapproval. He smiled at the nurse, nodding politely. “No. I have nothing but respect for Dr. Pollard’s abilities.” He thanked her for the update then exited quickly, making his way directly to Tilly’s quarters.

Was he overstepping? It was one thing to check on crew members as they recovered in sickbay. It was something else entirely to show up unannounced at their quarters. When he arrived at her door, he hesitated momentarily, but the urgency he felt to see her outweighed all other considerations.

He straightened his posture, pressed the button on the door pad to ring her bell, and waited.

Nobody answered.

Perhaps she had made a detour to the canteen. Or maybe she had gone to engineering; he wouldn’t put that level of dedication past her. Why hadn’t he arrived at sickbay sooner? If she had needed something, he could have retrieved it for her. He could have helped her get safely back to rest.

The door opened, startling him from his thoughts, and she took his breath away. Her hair was down, soft and full and falling around her shoulders. She’d changed out of her uniform and was wearing a loose fitting pair of sleeping pants and a regulation black undershirt. He’d never seen her so dressed down. Noticing the small white bandage over her temple immediately, he wanted to reach out, to examine it, to make sure she was ok.

“Captain Pike! Is everything okay?” Tilly asked, eyes wide at seeing him at her door. What could he possibly be doing here? Was something wrong? Had something happened with the network or Stamets after she’d left?

“That’s what I’m here to find out. Sickbay told me I’d find you here.” He smiled politely, trying to keep calm and professional as his entire body grew alert and sensitive at the very sight of her. Taking a deep breath, he asked. “Are you alright, Tilly?”

Her eyes widened even more if it were possible. “Oh, I’m f-fine, Captain. Right as rain! I mean, there’s not any rain here, and even if there were I don’t know what’s so right about the rain. I mean everything gets wet and cold and if there’s enough dirt around you get mud...” Sensing that she was babbling, Tilly looked down and leaned against the opposite edge of the doorway from Pike, her smile tight and her shoulders tensed, despite her relaxed leaning. “I always liked sunshine better.”

“A bit of sunshine is good for the soul.” His shoulders relaxed as her voice washed over him. This was her. She was back. Things were going to be ok. His nodded politely, squinting down the hallway, preparing to make his exit though he didn’t want to leave now that he had laid eyes on her.

“C-Captain?” He looked up to her immediately and she was half out of the room, hands fisted at her sides as if gearing herself up for a difficult task. Her eyes seemed to flit from point to point, never landing on him, or at least his face, for very long. “C-could you...if you don’t mind…. Michael made sure I was okay, but she had to leave because of something about her brother, and Stamets...he’s not…. What I mean is, I d-don’t really want to be alone right now and you’re here anyway. Would you mind staying? Just until the meds they gave me kick in?”

Her bottom lip was tucked between her teeth as her shoulders started slowly rising. She was gearing herself up for disappointment and to brush off the weight of what she was asking. Did she honestly think he could say no to her? He melted at the question, and a deep and genuine smile pulled the dimples out of his face. “I’d be honored.”

She startled at his answer before backing into her room, allowing him the space to enter.

Quarters on Starfleet ships were never the coziest, but he could instantly see the small things the Ensign had used to make the room a little more like home. Several pictures sat in clear frames at her desk, next to her Medal of Honor and a miniaturized model of a blue planet. A scraggly plant sat on the end table next to her couch.

“Is there anything you were wanting to do?”  
  
“I, uh, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.” She gave a soft laugh and it burned through him.

“Well,” he took another look around and saw a book laying on a nearby shelf, “how about we sit and read for a piece?”  
  
He took a seat on her couch and patted the cushion next to him. After a moment of hesitation, she took the seat, seeming to relax as he slid closer to her, sliding one arm tentatively behind her.

He chuckled warmly. “A paper book… that’s a hard thing to come by. It really makes you appreciate the value of things, to hold them in your hands.”  As he spoke, however, the book lay closed in his lap, one hand resting on it as he squeezed Tilly’s shoulder with his other hand, running the thumb of his broad hand over her shoulder, searching her face for every whisper of her feelings.  
  
“It was a gift from my dad before he left for his new orders on the _Dorothy Garrod_ . It was just after I turned 15 and I was angry at him for leaving me with my mom and my step-dad and my sister.” She snuggled in closer, craving the warmth that radiated off of him.  
  
“So… you only received the book a couple years ago?” He teased, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.  
  
An indelicate snort made its way from her nose. “Heck no, I’m not that young.  I know everyone always thinks I’m younger than I am because I'm so chipper and I can be naive sometimes, but I took my time getting into Starfleet Academy. My mother wasn’t happy but I wanted to see the world a little before deciding what I wanted to do with my life.”  
  
“And one little world wasn’t enough to contain someone as brilliant as you.” The twinkle was still in his eye, but the mischief was gone.    
  
She ignored the heat in her cheeks from his praise as she tilted her head up to look him in the eye. The meds were already starting to kick in, sleep tugging at the edges of her mind. “What about you? Did you always want to be in Starfleet?”  
  
He shrugged, pulled her closer as he looked out the window, eyes glazing over. “I always wanted to do something good, but I confess: the science side of space travel was nearly my undoing.”  
  
“Science always came easily to me. I programmed my synth to only make Spumoni ice cream when I was nine by calculating the exact protein concentration and small particle dispersion of emulsifiers required. That was easy. People were...always a little harder.” A flash of blue from a passing nebula sent her mind spiraling back to the forest. A shiver took over her body for a moment and she crossed her arms to try to keep the cold at bay.  
  
Pike set the book aside to turn to her fully, rubbing her arms, looking at her worriedly. “Are you ok?”  
  
“Yeah.” In her mind she could still see May and the network around her, so she closed her eyes and shook her head to get rid of them. “The mycelial was colder than I thought it would be. For some reason, I didn’t think it would be cold. But if you think about it, Space is pretty cold, so it would make sense the network would be too. I think I’m just having some trouble warming up.”  
  
She took a moment to look around, ground herself in reality and remember that she was in her quarters, safe and watched over. By Captain Pike of all people.  
  
“Um, there’s a th-throw blanket just over…” She pointed, and he turned immediately to retrieve the blanket folded up on the other side of the couch, just within reach. As he wrapped it around her shoulders, bright pinks and reds offsetting her brilliant hair, he attended to her with the same cautious and observant nature that so defined his leadership.  
  
As he continued to rub her arms, her shivering slowing with each second, he sighed in relief. It wasn’t until that point that he realized there was a knot in his chest, a cold and hard place that he’d allowed to become a blind spot of unfeeling, a dark and uncharted territory that was starting to ache now that she was here, and she was ok, and there was no longer reason for alarm.  
  
But what could he say? That the crew had thought they’d lost her? That the crew had worried over her? That the crew would never have been the same without her illuminating their ship with her presence?  
  
No. This wasn’t about the crew, and he knew it, but he was still at a loss for words.  
  
Tilly could feel her eyelids growing heavier with each passing breath, her body’s growing warmth speeding her desire to sleep, and struggled to keep them open. She felt like she was ten again, not letting herself fall into sleep because for once, the waking held more than her dreams could. And she had dreamed about Captain Pike a lot since he’d joined the Discovery. More than she should have, probably.  
  
She knew what her friends thought every time Pike’s handsome smile sent her babbling. She’d be a liar if she told them they were wrong. But this, sitting close to him as he pulled her closer yet again, helping to warm her, was the most at peace she’d felt since before the war with the Klingons. She was going to savor it for as long as she could.  
  
She let her head rest against his shoulder as he massaged up her arm from elbow to shoulder and back again, brushing a few errant curls away from her face as she relished in how sturdy he felt. She ached to hear his voice, feel the vibrations of it through his chest. She needed to get him talking again.  
  
“What’s your favorite book? I always liked _Matilda_ because she wasn’t like everyone else, but she was still happy with who she was. And she found people who liked her just the same.” She covered her mouth as a yawn escaped and let her eyes droop a little.  
  
How could he not smile at how adorable she was? He squeezed her against his body as he nuzzled the top of her head, huffing the impossibly intoxicating scent of her hair. Without thinking, he kissed the spot lightly before answering her question.  
  
“I loved _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_. Then again, I was always a sucker for sweet things.”  
  
“Like pastries and candy?” She hummed, bringing her legs up and tucking them up to her chest as she took one last look out her window before her eyes closed completely, to heavy to keep open. “There were these chewy candies my mom would get when we were stationed on Alastria. They tasted like a fruit that only grew on planet. You’d plop one in your mouth and it would start melting into this creamy mess before it started popping in your mouth like little explosions. Both soft and exciting.”  
  
“Yeah,” he smiled, relaxing back into the couch, pulling her back with him. “Pastries and candy.”  
  
He would have to tread carefully. She was making his heart hammer, making his blood pump through his body, making every one of his senses hyper-alert. But this was not about him. This was about her, about comforting her and helping her feel safe.  
  
He sighed, still soothing her distractedly as she curled into his embrace.  
  
“Thank you for staying with me.” Her head started to slip forward and she managed to catch herself before falling into his lap. _Wouldn’t that be a wonderful place to be_ , her tired mind supplied.  
  
Before she could think twice about it, she tipped forward and let herself kiss him on his jaw, just by his chin, quick and light.  
  
“Thank you, Christopher.” Her mind became silent as her body relaxed, content to stay where she was.  
  
His heart was hammering in his chest. She’d kissed him. She’d called him by his name… not Captain… not Pike… but Christopher. His body responded to the invitation viscerally, barely able to hold back his primal nature. He wanted to gather her into his arms, to lay her back onto the couch and cherish the soft heaven of her promised land under his hard and aching flesh.  
  
_Oh, Sylvia._  
  
How easy it would be to lose himself in her, but if he was ever going to share with her the depth of his regard, this was neither the time nor the place.  
  
He squeezed her once, gathering his wits as he sucked in a breath of resolve. “Why don’t we get you into bed? Hmm?”  
  
She could feel herself moving, lightly being jostled, but she couldn’t seem to gather the strength to open her eyes. A firm and large arm wrapped around her back while the other slipped under her legs and hoisted her up off the couch. It had been so long since she’d been carried like this, cradled with care, that she savored it, listening to the thrum of the heart under her ear.  
  
It was over too soon as she was carefully laid down on her bed, a distant voice mumbling as she sensed the lights dimming. She didn’t want it to end, this small piece of heaven she seemed to have found.  
  
“Stay…”  
  
Pike chuckled, pausing to look down at her, his eyes adjusting to the dark.  
  
“Alright… scooch over…” She wiggled to give him room, and he sat down, folding his hands between his legs, the weight of his body making the bed sigh.  
  
She was so tender, so elusive, and he was lucky to be able to witness these fleeting moments of her incomparable beauty.  
  
“You’re not a very good pillow.” She tightened the blanket that had clung to her as she was moved, trying to settle in.  
  
He chuckled. “I suppose I just need more of those sweet things… to soften me up.”  
  
Under cover of darkness, he looked at her with yearning in his eyes. Then he reached out to catch a strand of hair and tuck it slowly behind her ear.  
  
She tugged her pillow more securely under her head, nuzzling into it to find the perfect spot. “I’ve had lots of sweet things. Maybe I can be your pillow....” Her words were drifting off, growing more silent until she stilled.  
  
The back of his throat was dry.  
  
He remained silent as her breathing got heavier, and still he stayed, staring at her, caught outside of time, anchored to the moment by the impossible way she made him feel.  
  
He stood to leave, straightening his uniform, trying to tuck away the feelings he knew would never go back inside their neat little box of his heart.  
  
Then he thought: _What the hell._  
  
He leaned over her bed and brushed his lips against her cheek, warmly, hoping she’d be able to feel it through her sleep.  
  
And he promised her, “I am yours.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to comment in any way you can. Comments are what brought the two of us together in the first place so we could write this and share it with all you poor souls who ship these two characters. No comment is too small/long/dorky/sincere to be appreciated.
> 
> •••
> 
> (Feb 13, 2019 addition)
> 
> Howdy, y’all. Gypsysisters here. And I just have to say ERMIGARSH my writing partner LadySarah took a sloppy mishmash of a drabble and turned it into all kinds of amazing. I mean /really/... all the parts that shimmer are from her sparkling imagination and creativity and the rusty old grunts and aches are all my tired mind really had to offer. Don’t let her fool you with her humility... the greatness of this fic was 100% her.


End file.
